Eve is not the only pretty thing in this game.
Stellar Blade is a game that surprised me with how beautiful and challenging it is, proving that it is more than just eye candy. In this review, we will be talking about Stellar Blade’s gameplay, story, and everything that makes it a must-play exclusive.
What is Stellar Blade?
Before starting this review, let’s first talk a bit about what Stellar Blade is.
Stellar Blade is an action-adventure game with Souls-like elements exclusively for PlayStation 5, developed by Shift Up (the developers behind Goddess of Victory: Nikke), and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game had a release date of April 26, 2024, and has since then garnered an average review score of 82.
In the game, players control Eve, a member of the 7th Airborne Squad sent to Earth from The Colony in space to liberate it from the Naytiba, a violent race of monsters who have taken over the planet. Eve teams up with Adam, a survivor who lives on Earth, as well as Lily, an engineer from the 5th Airborne Squad.
As mentioned above, the game is an action-adventure game with Souls-like elements. A lot of the game’s combat revolves around parrying and dodging attacks, rewarding players with good reflexes. The game rewards players who parry and evade by giving them access to even stronger attacks, allowing them to defeat enemies with ease.
The game is a pseudo-open world, in that it is one big map. The game has various maps, connected by map transitions hidden through elevators, roads, or ship travel. While in said maps, players are free to explore wherever they want and defeat whatever enemy they encounter.
Like other Souls-like games, Stellar Blade features a rest point system, where players can recover all their HP and recovery items. Resting in said rest points also respawns regular enemies, so clearing enemies out is not something the player can do. Thankfully, dying and returning to a rest point does not make the player drop anything.
While the game has an over-arching main story, players can also take on side quests, either from the game’s bulletin board or from the game’s various NPCs. These side quests reward the player with additional items and cosmetics, as well as bits and pieces of lore that the player can piece together.
Speaking of cosmetics, the player can modify Eve’s appearance by changing her clothes, eyewear, earrings, and hairstyle. This is purely cosmetic, so players can dress Eve however they want without affecting gameplay.
Now that we have a general idea of what the game is about, let’s dive into our review of Stellar Blade’s gameplay.
Stellar Blade Gameplay
Let me preface this review by saying that I am a huge fan of Soulslike games, especially those that have a parry and dodge mechanic. That’s why when I first played the demo of the game, I immediately fell in love with the game’s combat. Parrying and dodging in the game felt amazing, and I felt powerful while doing them.
The combat itself is open, in that players can approach combat however they see fit. For example, players like me can focus on parrying every enemy attack, while others can opt to dodge instead. Players can even choose to just block attacks, or go all-in on offense.
This is great as it doesn’t just funnel players into one gameplay loop. It doesn’t force players to be parrying and dodging gods but instead gives them options to choose from, with each option being a viable one. This allows more players to experience the game, which is great.
Another thing I like about the game’s combat is that even the attacks themselves are varied. Eve has various attack combos that she can uses, which depends on what order she uses her normal and heavy attacks. This adds variety to the game’s combat, as some combos are better against certain type of enemies.
This allows players to change their tactics when needed. If a certain combo is too slow for some enemies, they can switch to a faster one. If a boss has long lull times, they can go for a slower, but stronger combo. This creates a combat loop that is very fun and refreshing to play, as well as one that doesn’t get boring fast.
One problem I do have with the game’s combat has to do with the timing of the parrying. Although the game said that parrying happens when the player blocks right before getting hit, the parry window is actually a little earlier than that. Although you can get used to it quickly, it’s still frustrating during the early parts of the game.
Of course, the game does not just revolve around combat. There are various platforming sections, as well as some one-off gameplay segments that spice up the game. I have mixed feelings about these sections, as although they are fun, some of them could have been removed from the game and the game would still be good.
For example, one section of the game has me sliding down a tube with spinning sawblades inside it. I have to dodge these sawblades, as they instantly kill Eve. While it did its job of grabbing my attention and making me focus on the game, it felt so out of place at the time, especially since right before this I was just exploring a section of the map.
Another example is one of the jumping puzzles where I had to jump from one platform to another in the correct order. While the order was easy enough to memorize (it was literally the face buttons of the PS5 controller), the game’s fast movement made me overshoot platforms frequently.
The side quests can also get very tiring, especially those from the game’s bulletin board. Although I got a lot of rewards from them, it could still get tiring as more often than not, more side quests unlocked whenever I turned one in. The sidequests from the NPCs, however, were great to do, as most of them had a good story to accompany them.
Overall, Stellar Blade’s gameplay is one of its strong points. It has a good mix of combat and exploration, as well as some one-off gameplay segments. While it is not perfect, with some sections that could be removed, it still makes for a fun game that you will keep coming back to.
Now, let’s review Stellar Blade’s story.
Stellar Blade Story
Stellar Blade’s story is very simple. As mentioned above, you play as Eve and are sent to Earth to free humans from the threat of a monster race who has taken over the world. However, the more Eve fights against these enemies, the more she learns that there is a sinister truth that she must uncover, threatening to challenge her beliefs.
If that story summary sounds very similar, that’s because it is. This is not the first game to have a plot that revolves around a character discovering that what she believes in is different from what is actually happening in the world, nor will it be the last, if I’m perfectly honest.
That’s why, although it pains me to say it, Stellar Blade’s story is nothing special. When I said that this game was “NieR at home”, this is mostly the reason why. The story revolves around challenging what you believe in, as well as whether or not you as the player will do what’s right.
Additionally, the game’s storyline is predictable. Throughout the game, you will pick up memory cards and databanks that hint toward the game’s twist (which I will not talk about in detail in this review). You don’t even have to think too hard about it, as a lot of the game’s events also hint at this twist.
However, although the game’s twist was predictable, that isn’t to say that it was bad. As mentioned above, the game builds up to the twist and doesn’t just drop it out of nowhere. The story slowly builds up to it, supplemented by the aforementioned optional information.
That’s why although the game’s story and twist were somewhat predictable, it was still a decent story. Not only that, but some of the game’s various side quests also shine in this game. One such sidequest is the one involving Su and Enya. The sidequests talk about sacrifice, and how far people would go for those they love, so do check it out.
Stellar Blade’s story is nothing special, and I would even go as far as to say it was average. However, the player could feel the effort the developers and writers put into the game, both in the content and the delivery. It may be average, but it’s fine, as everything else in the game complements it really well.
If you are going into Stellar Blade looking for a story, don’t expect it to have one that’s as complex as NieR: Automata, as you’ll just disappoint yourself. Just take it as it is, and enjoy your NieR at home.
With that, let’s now review Stellar Blade’s graphics.
Stellar Blade Graphics
It’s no exaggeration to say that Stellar Blade is a beautiful game. From the game’s character design (reminiscent of Korean MMORPGs) to the appearance of the game’s various levels and stages, Stellar Blade is as beautiful as it is challenging.
Even when playing in Performance mode, the game still succeeds in looking amazing. Be it indoors while exploring the sewers of Matrix 11, or in the Oasis in the Great Desert, the game does a great job of making things look beautiful, even those that you wouldn’t normally describe as beautiful.
The game also does a great job in terms of its color grading. For example, when in Eidos 7, the game uses a lot of blues and grays, setting the mood as the city was destroyed in the War. Xion, on the other hand, uses a lot of browns, which shows off the state the city is in as a post-apocalyptic sanctuary that’s barely scraping by.
When it comes to the characters, however, it’s a whole different ball game. Let’s start with our main character Eve. It’s obvious that lot of love and care went into designing her, seeing as she is the game’s main character. From her face to her various costumes, all of it shows how much work went into her character design.
Funnily enough, the same can be said about the game’s various enemies, especially the Alpha Naytibas. You just know that an enemy’s design is great when you can vividly remember most, if not all, of its features from memory after only fighting it once or twice. Even the smaller enemies are memorable, so you know they’re doing something right.
Then there’s the characters whose design had me questioning things. For example, Adam’s design looks so different from Eve, making him look like he was from a different game altogether thanks to his almost realistic features.
Tachy’s and Kaya’s character design, on the other hand, felt like they came from one of the numerous Korean MMORPGs available in the market right now. Lily herself looks out of place because of how different she looks compared to the game’s other Airborne Squad Members.
Finally, there’s the character designs that made me wonder what the designers were really going for. The NPCs in Xion, for example, were either “generic villagers with jackets” or “male soldiers with helmets”. Then there were the characters that looked like they jumped out from Cyberpunk 2077 thanks to the cybernetics they had.
Yes, the game is beautiful, and Eve looks amazing. Sadly, it feels like a lot of the resources they used on Eve could have been used to give love to the other characters in the game.
After taking a look at the graphics, let’s now review Stellar Blade’s music and sound design.
Stellar Blade Music and Sound Design
Stellar Blade’s music is perhaps what makes it really close to NieR for me. This isn’t surprising, seeing how around 40% of the music was created by Monaca, which is a sound studio led by composer Keiichi Okabe, who also worked on NieR.
The game’s music is varied, with each of them fitting the mood of where they are playing. The Eidos 7 music, for example, has some fast-paced instrumentals, intertwined with somber lyrics. It highlights the fact that the city, which used to be full of life, is now abandoned and empty.
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The boss music, in particular, is something I really love. The Abbadon theme, for example, has EDM in it, which matches well with its electric powers. Stalker’s theme, on the other hand, has fast-paced guitar and lyrics that match its fast attacks, and its chainsaw-like head.
Perhaps my favorite out of all of them is the music that plays when you visit Clyde in the Great Desert Oasis. The music’s vocals lull you into this relaxed state, which reflects the life that Clyde leads: a simple, relaxing life, where you do nothing but fish.
Of course, the game’s music is not the only amazing thing in the game. As mentioned above, the game has a lot of parrying and dodging. The sounds that the player makes when they do a perfect parry or dodge is important in any game that features them, and Stellar Blade does a great job with that regard.
That loud, metallic ringing that you hear when you perfectly parry an attack, as well as the shrill sound that you hear when you make a perfect dodge are sounds that bring joy to my heart and makes it all the more enjoyable to do them. The sounds that signal the ability to Blink and Repulse are also great to hear.
Apart from the parrying and dodging sounds, the combat sounds are also great to hear. When Eve’s sword makes contact with the Naytibas, the sounds that it makes are satisfying, making my attacks feel like they’re actually dealing damage to my enemy. This includes the game’s Beta and Burst Skills as well.
A game’s sound design is an important part of any action game, something I’m glad Stellar Blade did right. The only sound design that I think it is lacking in is with the guns, as it all sounds the same when you fire it from what I can hear.
A review of Stellar Blade’s accessibility is next.
Stellar Blade Accessibility
Stellar Blade actually has a lot of accessibility options available in the game. They have the usual options for motion sickness (motion blur removal, having a dot in the center of the screen), and color blind options. They even have a high-contrast mode which highlights Eve, as well as enemies and interactables.
Perhaps the biggest accessibility feature that the game has, however, is the game’s Story Mode Difficulty. When players start playing Stellar Blade, they can choose to either play in Normal Mode or in Story Mode. Story Mode makes enemies easier to defeat, allowing players to enjoy the game for its story.
However, that’s not the only advantage that Story Mode has. When players decide to play on Story Mode, they receive an additional option called the Action Assist. Action Assist makes it so that QTE prompts will appear on the screen whenever a player can Perfect Parry or Dodge.
For example, if the player is close to an attack that they can parry, time will slow down in the game, and players will receive a prompt telling them to press L1. This makes it easier for players to Parry and Dodge attacks, allowing them to defeat enemies easily.
Of course, this isn’t an overpowered setting. If the player doesn’t press a button, they will still get hit by the attack. It’s not a way for players to breeze through the game, but it definitely helps those who don’t have the reflexes for games like this but want to play Stellar Blade.
Review Verdict – Is Stellar Blade worth your time and money?
Overall, I believe that Stellar Blade is worth your time and money. Even if Stellar Blade’s story is not anything to write home about, its gameplay more than makes up for it. Nothing beats the satisfaction you get when you perfectly parry the boss’s six-hit attack, or when you take down the boss you’ve been stuck at for almost two hours already.
Even if you’re not an avid Soulslike player, the game has enough accessibility options that you will still be able to play the game and beat it thanks to the Story Mode and Action Assist. If that doesn’t convince you, playing the game for its music is also valid, as it is some of the best video game music I have heard in recent time.
Score: 8/10
That’s all for our review of Stellar Blade, its gameplay, story, and more. Check out our gaming news articles for the latest in gaming news.
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